1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunication services between a deaf or hearing-impaired person and a nonhearing-impaired or hearing-capable person. More particularly, the invention relates to the establishment of a communication session between a hearing-impaired and a hearing-capable user that enables the hearing-impaired user to communicate using efficient communicative techniques, such as through the use of sign language.
2. State of the Art
Text-based communication devices (e.g., TTY devices) have been used to facilitate the flow of conversation between a hearing-impaired party and a hearing-capable party. However, even with the best technology implemented, such a solution does not convey the emotion or visual cues that are vital to human communication. Additionally, while text-based messaging is convenient and easy to implement, such a method of communication is a more inefficient means of communication for the hearing impaired.
Under the guidance of Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, telecommunication services were mandated to provide hearing-and speech-impaired parties with functional equivalents of the telecommunication services of hearing-and speech-capable parties. Accordingly, various approaches were implemented with one being a Video Relay Service (VRS). The VRS was developed to allow hearing-impaired users to converse in sign language over an imaging device with hearing-capable users that utilize standard telecommunication services, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Various implementations of establishing a communication session between a hearing-impaired party and a hearing-capable party have been proposed and implemented. To present, the establishment of such a communication channel has required significant human intervention and a significant amount of time to establish a communication session that is facilitated by an intermediary, such as an interpreter.